G

Fusus, spindle.

GĂBINUS CINCTUS. [Toga.]

GAESUM (γαισός), a term probably of Celtic origin, denoting a kind of javelin which was used by the Gauls wherever their ramifications extended. It was a heavy weapon, the shaft being as thick as a man could grasp, and the iron head barbed, and of an extraordinary length compared with the shaft.

GĂLĔA (κράνος,poet.κόρυς,πήληξ), a helmet; a casque. The helmet was originally made of skin or leather, whence is supposed to have arisen its appellation,κυνέη, meaning properly a helmet of dog-skin, but applied to caps or helmets made of the hide of other animals, and even to those which were entirely of bronze or iron. The leathern basis of the helmet was also very commonly strengthened and adorned by the addition of either bronze or gold. Helmets which had a metallic basis were in Latin properly calledcassides, although the termsgaleaandcassisare often confounded. The additions by which the external appearance of the helmet was varied, and which served both for ornament and protection, were the following:—1. Bosses or plates (φάλος), proceeding either from the top or the sides, and varying in number from one to four (ἀμφίφαλος,τετράφαλος). Theφάλοςwas often an emblematical figure, referring to the character of the wearer. Thus in the colossal statue of Athena in the Parthenon at Athens, she bore a sphinx on the top of her helmet, and a griffin on each side. 2. The helmet thus adorned was very commonly surmounted by the crest (crista,λόφος), which was often of horse-hair. 3. The two cheek-pieces (bucculae,παραγναθίδες), which were attached to the helmet by hinges, so as to be lifted up and down. They had buttons or ties at their extremities, for fastening the helmet on the head. 4. The beaver, or visor, apeculiar form of which is supposed to have been theαὐλῶπις τρυφάλεια,i.e.the perforated beaver. The gladiators wore helmets of this kind.

Galeae, helmets. (From ancient Gems,—size of originals.)

GĂLĒRUS or GALĒRUM, originally a covering for the head worn by priests, especially by theflamen dialis. It appears to have been a round cap made of leather, with its top ending in an apex or point. [Apex.] In course of time the name was applied to any kind of cap fitting close to the head like a helmet.Galerusand its diminutiveGalericulumare also used to signify a covering for the head made of hair, and hence a wig.

GALLI, the priests of Cybelé, whose worship was introduced at Rome from Phrygia. The Galli were, according to an ancient custom, always castrated, and it would seem that, impelled by religious fanaticism, they performed this operation on themselves. In their wild, enthusiastic, and boisterous rites they resembled the Corybantes. They seem to have been always chosen from a poor and despised class of people, for, while no other priests were allowed to beg, the Galli were permitted to do so on certain days. The chief priest among them was calledarchigallus.

GĂMĒLĬA (γαμηλία). The demes and phratries of Attica possessed various means to prevent intruders from assuming the rights of citizens. Among other regulations, it was ordained that every bride, previous to her marriage, should be introduced by her parents or guardians to the phratria of her husband. This introduction of the young women was accompanied by presents to their new phratores, which were calledgamelia. The women were enrolled in the lists of the phratries, and this enrolment was also calledgamelia.

GAUSĂPA, GAUSĂPE, or GAUSĂPUM, a kind of thick cloth, which was on one side very woolly, and was used to cover tables and beds, and by persons to wrap themselves up after taking a bath, or in general to protect themselves against rain and cold. It was worn by men as well as women. The word gausapa is also sometimes used to designate a thick wig, such as was made of the hair of Germans, and worn by the fashionable people at Rome at the time of the emperors.

GĔNĔSIA. [Funus.]

GĔNOS (γένος). [Tribus, Greek.]

GENS. According to the traditional accounts of the old Roman constitution, theGenteswere subdivisions of thecuriae, just as thecuriaewere subdivisions of the three ancient tribes, theRamnes,Titienses, andLuceres. There were ten gentes in each curia, and consequently one hundred gentes in each tribe, and three hundred in the three tribes. Now if there is any truth in the tradition of this original distribution of the population into tribes, curiae, and gentes, it follows that there was no necessary kinship among those families which belonged to a gens, any more than among those families which belonged to one curia. The name of the gens was always characterised by the terminationia, as Julia, Cornelia, Valeria; and the gentiles, or members of a gens, all bore the name of the gens to which they belonged. As the gentes were subdivisions of the three ancient tribes, the populus (in the ancient sense) alone had gentes, so that to be a patrician and to have a gens were synonymous; and thus we find the expressions gens and patricii constantly united. Yet it appears that some gentes contained plebeian familiae, which it is conjectured had their origin in marriages between patricians and plebeians before there was connubium between them. A hundred new members were added to the senate by the first Tarquin. These were the representatives of theLuceres, the third and inferior tribe; which is indicated by the gentes of this tribe being calledminores, by way of being distinguished from the older gentes,majores, of the Ramnes and Tities, a distinction which appears to have been more than nominal. [Senatus.] There were certain sacred rites (sacra gentilitia) which belonged to a gens, to which all the members of a gens, as such, were bound. It was the duty of the pontifices to look after the due observance of these gentile sacra, and to see that they were not lost. Each gens seems to have had its peculiar place (sacellum) for the celebration of these sacra, which were performed at stated times. By the law of the Twelve Tables the property of a person who died intestate devolved upon the gens to which he belonged.

GĔŌMŎRI. [Tribus, Greek.]

GĔROUSĬA (γερούσια), orassembly of elders, was the aristocratic element of the Spartan polity. It was not peculiar to Sparta only, but found in other Dorian states, just as aBoulé(βουλή) or democratical council was an element of most Ionian constitutions. TheGerousiaat Sparta, including the two kings, its presidents, consisted of thirty members (γέροντες): a number which seems connected with the divisions of the Spartan people. Every Dorian state, in fact, was divided into three tribes: the Hylleis, the Dymanes, and the Pamphyli. The tribes at Sparta were again subdivided intoobae(ὠβαί), which were, like theGerontes, thirty in number, so that each oba was represented by its councillor: any inference which leads to the conclusion that two obae at least of theHyllean tribe, must have belonged to the royal house of the Heracleids. No one was eligible to the council till he was sixty years of age, and the additional qualifications were strictly of an aristocratic nature. We are told, for instance, that the office of a councillor was the reward and prize of virtue, and that it was confined to men of distinguished character and station. The election was determined by vote, and the mode of conducting it was remarkable for its old-fashioned simplicity. The competitors presented themselves one after another to the assembly of electors; the latter testified their esteem by acclamations, which varied in intensity according to the popularity of the candidates for whom they were given. These manifestations of esteem were noted by persons in an adjoining building, who could judge of the shouting, but could not tell in whose favour it was given. The person whom these judges thought to have been most applauded was declared the successful candidate. The office lasted for life. The functions of the councillors were partly deliberative, partly judicial, and partly executive. In the discharge of the first, they prepared measures and passed preliminary decrees, which were to be laid before the popular assembly, so that the important privilege of initiating all changes in the government or laws was vested in them. As a criminal court, they could punish with death and civil degradation (ἀτιμία). They also appear to have exercised, like the Areiopagus at Athens, a general superintendence and inspection over the lives and manners of the citizens, and probably were allowed a kind of patriarchal authority, to enforce the observance of ancient usage and discipline. It is not, however, easy to define with exactness the original extent of their functions, especially as respects the last-mentioned duty, since the ephors not only encroached upon the prerogatives of the king and council, but also possessed, in very early times, a censorial power, and were not likely to permit any diminution of its extent.

GERRHA (γέῤῥα), in Latin,Gerrae, properly signified any thing made of wicker-work, and was especially used as the name of the Persian shields, which were made of wicker-work, and were smaller and shorter than the Greek shields.

GLĂDĬĀTŌRES (μονομάχοι) were men who fought with swords in the amphitheatre and other places, for the amusement of the Roman people. They are said to have been first exhibited by the Etrurians, and to have had their origin from the custom of killing slaves and captives at the funeral pyres of the deceased. [Bustum;Funus.] A show of gladiators was called munus, and the person who exhibited (edebat) it,editor,munerator, ordominus, who was honoured during the day of exhibition, if a private person, with the official signs of a magistrate. Gladiators were first exhibited at Rome inB.C.264, in the Forum Boarium, by Marcus and Decimus Brutus, at the funeral of their father. They were at first confined to public funerals, but afterwards fought at the funerals of most persons of consequence, and even at those of women. Combats of gladiators were also exhibited at entertainments, and especially at public festivals by the aediles and other magistrates, who sometimes exhibited immense numbers, with the view of pleasing the people. Under the empire the passion of the Romans for this amusement rose to its greatest height, and the number of gladiators who fought on some occasions appears almost incredible. After Trajan’s triumph over the Dacians, there were more than 10,000 exhibited. Gladiators consisted either of captives, slaves, and condemned malefactors, or of freeborn citizens who fought voluntarily. Freemen, who became gladiators for hire, were calledauctorati, and their hireauctoramentumorgladiatorium. Even under the republic, free-born citizens fought as gladiators, but they appear to have belonged only to the lower orders. Under the empire, however, both knights and senators fought in the arena, and even women.—Gladiators were kept in schools (ludi), where they were trained by persons calledlanistae. The whole body of gladiators under one lanista was frequently calledfamilia. They sometimes were the property of the lanistae, who let them out to persons who wished to exhibit a show of gladiators; but at other times they belonged to citizens, who kept them for the purpose of exhibition, and engaged lanistae to instruct them. Thus we read of the ludus Aemilius at Rome, and of Caesar’s ludus at Capua. The gladiators fought in these ludi with wooden swords, calledrudes. Great attention was paid to their diet, in order to increase the strength of their bodies.—Gladiators were sometimes exhibited at the funeral pyre, and sometimes in the forum, but more frequently in the amphitheatre. [Amphitheatrum.]—The person who was to exhibit a show of gladiators, published some days before the exhibition bills (libelli), containing the number and frequently the names of those who were to fight. When the day came, they were led along the arena in procession, and matched by pairs; and their swords were examined by the editor to see if they were sufficiently sharp. At first there was a kind of sham battle, calledpraelusio,in which they fought with wooden swords, or the like, and afterwards at the sound of the trumpet the real battle began. When a gladiator was wounded, the people called outhabetorhoc habet; and the one who was vanquished lowered his arms in token of submission. His fate, however, depended upon the people, who pressed down their thumbs if they wished him to be saved, but turned them up if they wished him to be killed, and ordered him to receive the sword (ferrum recipere), which gladiators usually did with the greatest firmness. If the life of a vanquished gladiator was spared, he obtained his discharge for that day, which was calledmissio; and hence in an exhibition of gladiatorssine missione, the lives of the conquered were never spared. This kind of exhibition, however, was forbidden by Augustus. Palms were usually given to the victorious gladiators. Old gladiators, and sometimes those who had only fought for a short time, were discharged from the service by the editor, at the request of the people, who presented each of them with a rudis or wooden sword; whence those who were discharged were calledRudiarii.—Gladiators were divided into different classes, according to their arms and different mode of fighting, or other circumstances. The names of the most important of these classes are given in alphabetical order:—Andabataewore helmets without any aperture for the eyes, so that they were obliged to fight blindfold, and thus excited the mirth of the spectators.—Catervariiwas the name given to gladiators when they did not fight in pairs, but when several fought together.—Essedariifought from chariots, like the Gauls and Britons. [Esseda.]—Hoplomachiappear to have been those who fought in a complete suit of armour.—Laqueatoreswere those who used a noose to catch their adversaries.—Meridianiwere those who fought in the middle of the day, after combats with wild beasts had taken place in the morning. These gladiators were very slightly armed.—Mirmillonesare said to have been so called from their having the image of a fish (mormyr,μορμύρος) on their helmets. Their arms were like those of the Gauls, whence we find that they were also called Galli. They were usually matched with the Retiarii or Thracians.—Provocatoresfought with the Samnites, but we do not know any thing respecting them except their name.—Retiariicarried only a three-pointed lance, calledtridensorfuscina[Fuscina], and a net (rete), which they endeavoured to throw over their adversaries, and they then attacked them with the fuscina while they were entangled. The retiarius was dressed in a short tunic, and wore nothing on his head. If he missed his aim in throwing the net, he betook himself to flight, and endeavoured to prepare his net for a second cast, while his adversary followed him round the arena in order to kill him before he could make a second attempt. His adversary was usually asecutoror amirmillo. In the following woodcut a combat is represented between a retiarius and a mirmillo; the former has thrown his net over the head of the latter, and is proceeding to attack him with the fuscina. The lanista stands behind the retiarius.—Samniteswere so called, because they were armed in the same way as that people, and were particularly distinguished by the oblongscutum.—Secutoresare supposed by some writers to be so called because the secutor in his combat with the retiarius pursued the latter when he failed in securing him by his net.

A Mirmillo and a Retiarius. (Winckelmann, ‘Monum. Ined.,’ pl. 197.)

Other writers think that they were the same as thesupposititii, who were gladiators substituted in the place of those who were wearied or were killed.—ThracesorThreceswere armed, like the Thracians, with a round shield orbuckler, and a short sword or dagger (sica). They were usually matched, as already stated, with the mirmillones. The following woodcut represents a combat between two Thracians. A lanista stands behind each.

Thracians. (Winckelmann, l. c.)

GLĂDĬUS (ξίφος,poet.ἄορ,φάσγανον), a sword or glaive, by the Latin poets calledensis. The ancient sword had generally a straight two-edged blade, rather broad, and nearly of equal width from hilt to point. The Greeks and Romans wore them on the left side, so as to draw them out of the sheath (vagina,κολεός) by passing the right hand in front of the body to take hold of the hilt with the thumb next to the blade. The early Greeks used a very short sword. Iphicrates, who made various improvements in armour about 400B.C., doubled its length. The Roman sword was larger, heavier, and more formidable than the Greek.

GLANDES. [Funda.]

GRAECŎSTĂSIS, a place in the Roman forum, on the right of the Comitium, so called because the Greek ambassadors, and perhaps also deputies from other foreign or allied states, were allowed to stand there to hear the debates. When the sun was seen from the Curia coming out between the Rostra and the Graecostasis, it was mid-day; and an accensus of the consul announced the time with a clear loud voice.

GRAMMĂTEUS (γραμματεύς), a clerk or scribe. Among the great number of scribes employed by the magistrates and government of Athens, there were three of a higher rank, who were real state-officers. One of them was appointed by lot, by the senate, to serve the time of the administration of each prytany, though he always belonged to a different prytany from that which was in power. He was, therefore, calledγραμματεὺς κατὰ πρυτανείαν. His province was to keep the public records, and the decrees of the people which were made during the time of his office, and to deliver to the thesmothetae the decrees of the senate.—The secondgrammateuswas elected by the senate, byχειροτονία, and was entrusted with the custody of the laws. His usual name wasγραμματεὺς τῆς βουλῆς.—A thirdgrammateuswas calledγραμματεὺς τῆς πόλεως, orγραμματεὺς τῆς βουλῆς καὶ τοῦ δήμου. He was appointed by the people, byχειροτονία, and the principal part of his office was to read any laws or documents which were required to be read in the assembly or in the senate.

GRĂPHĒ (γραφή). [Dice.]

GRĂPHĬĀRĬUM. [Stilus.]

GRĂPHIS. [Pictura.]

GRĂPHĬUM. [Stilus.]

GŬBERNĀCŬLUM (πηδάλιον). [Navis.]

GUSTĀTĬO. [Coena.]

Guttus on Coin of L. Plancus.

GUTTUS, a vessel with a narrow mouth or neck, from which the liquid was poured in drops, whence its name. It was especially used in sacrifices, and hence we find it represented on the Roman coins struck by persons who held any of the priestly offices. The guttus was also used for keeping the oil, with which persons were anointed in the baths. [Seep. 56.]

Gymnasium, after the description of Vitruvius.

GYMNĀSIUM (γυμνάσιον). The whole education of a Greek youth was divided into three parts,—grammar, music, and gymnastics (γράμματα,μουσική,γυμναστική), to which Aristotle adds a fourth, the art of drawing or painting. Gymnastics, however, were thought by the ancients a matter of such importance, that this part of education alone occupied as much time and attention as all the others put together; and while the latter necessarily ceased at a certain period of life, gymnastics continued to be cultivated by persons of all ages, though those of an advanced age naturally took lighter and less fatiguing exercises than boys and youths. The ancients, and more especially the Greeks, seem to have been thoroughly convinced that the mind could not possibly be in a healthy state, unless the body was likewise in perfect health, and no means were thought, either by philosophers or physicians, to be more conducive to preserve or restore bodily health than well-regulated exercise. The word gymnastics is derived fromγυμνός(naked), because the persons who performed their exercises in public or private gymnasia were either entirely naked, or merely covered by the shortchiton. Gymnastic exercises among the Greeks seem to have been as old as the Greek nation itself; but they were, as might be supposed, of a rude and mostly of a warlike character. They were generally held in the open air, and in plains near a river, which afforded an opportunity for swimming and bathing. It was about the time of Solon that the Greek towns began to build their regular gymnasia as places of exercise for the young, with baths, and other conveniences for philosophers and all persons who sought intellectual amusements. There was probably no Greek town of any importance which did not possess its gymnasium. Athens possessed three great gymnasia, the Lyceum (Λύκειον), Cynosarges (Κυνόσαργες), and the Academia (Ἀκαδημία); to which, in later times, several smaller ones were added. Respecting the superintendence and administration of the gymnasia at Athens, we know that Solon in his legislation thought them worthy of great attention; and the transgression of some of his laws relating to the gymnasia was punished with death. His laws mention a magistrate, called the gymnasiarch (γυμνασίαρχοςorγυμνασιάρχης), who was entrusted with the whole management of the gymnasia, and with everything connected therewith. His office was one of the regular liturgies like the choregia and trierarchy, and was attended with considerable expense. He had to maintain and pay the persons who were preparing themselves for the games and contests in the public festivals, to provide them with oil, and perhaps with the wrestlers’ dust. It also devolved upon him to adorn the gymnasium, or the place where the agones were held. The gymnasiarch was a real magistrate, and invested with a kind of jurisdiction over all those who frequented or were connected with the gymnasia. Another part of his duties was to conduct the solemn games at certain great festivals, especially the torch-race (λαμπαδηφορία), for which he selected the most distinguished among the ephebi of the gymnasia. The number of gymnasiarchs was ten, one from every tribe. An office of very great importance, in an educational point of view, was that of theSophronistae(σωφρονίσται). Their province was to inspire the youths with a love ofσωφροσύνη, and to protect this virtue against all injurious influences. In early times their number at Athens was ten, one from every tribe, with a salary of one drachma per day. Their duty not only required them to be present at all the games of the ephebi, but to watch and correct their conduct wherever they might meet them, both within and without the gymnasium. The instructions in the gymnasia were given by theGymnastae(γυμνασταί) and thePaedotribae(παιδοτριβαί); at a later periodHypopaedotribaewere added. ThePaedotribae were required to possess a knowledge of all the various exercises which were performed in the gymnasia; the Gymnastes was the practical teacher, and was expected to know the physiological effects and influences on the constitution of the youths, and therefore assigned to each of them those exercises which he thought most suitable. The anointing of the bodies of the youths and strewing them with dust, before they commenced their exercises, as well as the regulation of their diet, was the duty of the aliptae. [Aliptae.]—Among all the different tribes of the Greeks the exercises which were carried on in a Greek gymnasium were either mere games, or the more important exercises which the gymnasia had in common with the public contests in the great festivals. Among the former we may mention, 1. The game at ball (σφαιριστική), which was in universal favour with the Greeks. [Pila.] Every gymnasium contained one large room for the purpose of playing at ball in it (σφαιριστήριον). 2.Παίζειν ἑλκυστίνδα,διελκυστίνδα, orδιὰ γραμμῆς, was a game in which one boy, holding one end of a rope, tried to pull the boy who held its other end, across a line marked between them on the ground. 3. The top (βεμβηξ,βέμβιξ,ῥόμβος,στρόβιλος), which was as common an amusement with Greek boys as it is with ours. 4. Theπεντάλιθος, which was a game with five stones, which were thrown up from the upper part of the hand and caught in the palm. 5.Σκαπέρδα, which was a game in which a rope was drawn through the upper part of a tree or a post. Two boys, one on each side of the post, turning their backs towards one another, took hold of the ends of the rope and tried to pull each other up. This sport was also one of the amusements at the Attic Dionysia. The more important games, such as running (δρόμος), throwing of theδίσκοςand theἄκων, jumping and leaping (ἅλμα, with and withoutἁλτῆρες), wrestling (πάλη), boxing (πυγμή), the pancratium (παγκράτιον),πένταθλος,λαμπαδηφορία, dancing (ὀρχήσις), &c., are described in separate articles. A gymnasium was not a Roman institution. The regular training of boys in the Greek gymnastics was foreign to Roman manners, and even held in contempt. Towards the end of the republic, many wealthy Romans who had acquired a taste for Greek manners, used to attach to their villas small places for bodily exercise, sometimes called gymnasia, sometimes palaestrae, and to adorn them with beautiful works of art. The emperor Nero was the first who built a public gymnasium at Rome.

GYMNĒSII or GYMNĒTES (γυμνήσιοι, orγυμνῆτες), a class of bond-slaves at Argos, who may be compared with the Helots at Sparta. Their name shows that they attended their masters on military service in the capacity of light-armed troops.

GYMNŎPAEDĬA (γυμνοπαιδία), the festival of “naked youths,” was celebrated at Sparta every year in honour of Apollo Pythaeus, Artemis, and Leto. The statues of these deities stood in a part of the agora calledχορός, and it was around these statues that, at the gymnopaedia, Spartan youths performed their choruses and dances in honour of Apollo. The festival lasted for several, perhaps for ten, days, and on the last day men also performed choruses and dances in the theatre; and during these gymnastic exhibitions they sang the songs of Thaletas and Alcman, and the paeans of Dionysodotus. The leader of the chorus (προστάτηςorχοροποιός) wore a kind of chaplet in commemoration of the victory of the Spartans at Thyrea. This event seems to have been closely connected with the gymnopaedia, for those Spartans who had fallen on that occasion were always praised in songs at this festival. The boys in their dances performed such rhythmical movements as resembled the exercises of the palaestra and the pancration, and also imitated the wild gestures of the worship of Dionysus. The whole season of the gymnopaedia, during which Sparta was visited by great numbers of strangers, was one of great merriment and rejoicings, and old bachelors alone seem to have been excluded from the festivities. The introduction of the gymnopaedia is generally assigned to the year 665B.C.

GỸNAECONĪTIS. [Domus,Greek.]

GỸNAECŎNŎMI or GỸNAECŎCOSMI (γυναικονόμοιorγυναικοκόσμοι), magistrates at Athens, originally appointed to superintend the conduct of Athenian women. Their power was afterwards extended in such a manner that they became a kind of police for the purpose of preventing any excesses or indecencies, whether committed by men or by women. Hence they superintended the meetings of friends even in private houses, for instance, at weddings and on other festive occasions.

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